


Little Talks

by julienwrites



Series: Must Love Dogs [5]
Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: Bonding, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Childhood Memories, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Feels, Family Issues, Gregory Casey's A+ Parenting, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Domestic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 10:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30087567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julienwrites/pseuds/julienwrites
Summary: It’s as if a dam breaks. Matt hugs her as tight as he can and Janette’s struck with a sickening realization- no one has ever told this to him before. No one has told him that he’s innocent, that none of this is his fault, or that he never needs to worry about the people close in his life thinking that.
Relationships: Sylvie Brett/Matthew Casey
Series: Must Love Dogs [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2074431
Comments: 7
Kudos: 51





	Little Talks

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the fifth (tiny) installment for MLD. Beau is not in this, but let's imagine he's with Koda in the dog bed snoozing away, shall we? 
> 
> The timeline is somewhat messed up, so I apologize. Matt and Sylvie's ages are a bit skewed I now realize, from between the show and what I've made them here. Hopefully it can be overlooked. 
> 
> Canon compliant warnings for how Gregory Casey is written. I have kept with the idea that he wasn't always bad, but something changed him. I do not go into the abuse very much, I wouldn't say it's graphically detailed, but it is talked about. There is one homophobic comment.
> 
> On a lighter note, I hope you all enjoy some bonding between Matt and Janette. As always, if you like it or have a prompt, let me know! My tumblr is @roberttchase. 
> 
> \- Julien

It takes almost a year for her to bring it up. One year of smiles that go from hesitant to accepting, a year of watching Matt go from cautious and nervous to comfortable enough to walk in unannounced with Sylvie and hug Janette as if he’s her own child. Comfortable enough to decline food that he doesn’t want instead of forcing himself to eat it politely. 

It takes almost one whole year for Janette to finally work up the courage to talk to him about his childhood. She’s known since the day her daughter had talked about officially dating Captain Matthew Casey, the name having struck a familial chord in her. She had known that name from somewhere. So she’d (somewhat embarrassingly) googled her daughters new boyfriend and found what her mind had been trying to supply. 

_ Wife Charged with Murder After Chicago Man Shot in the Chest.  _

_ Nancy Casey, 39, was arrested for murder of, reportedly abusive, husband Gregory Casey, 43, late Tuesday night. A neighbor called police after hearing four gunshots, minutes after a car pulled up to Gregory’s house. Neither her son Matthew, nor daughter Christie were home at the time of the act. Updates to come.  _

The article had been dated November 19th 1993. Matt would have been 15. From what Janette’s gathered, most of the issues Matt deals with stems from his family. She has no trouble seeing the easy amount of issues just coming from that one headline. 

Sylvie and Matt have been home for two days, when the older woman seizes the chance at a more intimate talk with her (hopefully) future son in law when her daughter heads out to the store with David. They’ve already done the usual bonding, looking at photos, cooking together. She can recall the first time Matt had admitted he liked to cook, and how shocked she’d been. It doesn’t surprise her now, that he enjoys cooking. It’s methodical and while some people can make it creative, there’s also the standard by the book way of doing it too.  _ Very _ Matt Casey. 

The firefighter’s helping clean up dishes when David and Sylvie head out, leaving her alone with the man. Now’s the opportunity. Turning, she catches Matt’s attention and smiles. “I was hoping we could talk, bond a little,” she explains, kicking herself after. Bond a little. Come  _ on _ Janette, don’t sound so ominous. “I just…” she trails off and smiles when Matt shakes his head, looking much younger than forty three. 

“Bonding sounds nice.” There’s a hint of something, buried deep in his voice, a tone of apprehension, like he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. Janette can’t really blame him, not with what she’s about to bring up. She just hopes she can assure him it doesn’t really matter or affect their view of him. They head to the couch in the living room, Matt fidgeting with his hands. 

She looks at him, taking in how young he looks here, biting at his lip like he’s about to confess he’s done something wrong. That’s the farthest thing from the truth. He’s given her daughter a life she’s always dreamed off. Janette decides she needs to start talking and put the poor man out of his misery. 

“We’ve never talked about your family.” The woman turns towards her future son in law, seeing him stiffen instantly. He licks his lips, blinks slowly. “If you don’t want to, that’s alright, I’d never  _ ma- _ “ 

“No, it’s alright.” His voice seems stronger than it should, and Janette puts a hand on his knee, patting it maternally for comfort and encouragement. “I want to. Talk about it with you, I mean.”

Folding her hands in her lap, the woman waits patiently as he tries to work out what he wants to say next. Sylvie’s always told her he has a hard time of expressing himself and being vulnerable, and Janette’s very aware that this isn’t a topic to be taken lightly. 

“I don’t know how much you’ve read...though I assume you’re probably around my parents age, so you heard all about it, but…” Matt trails off, before looking back at her again. “My mom killed my dad.” A beat of silence, as though the man is waiting for her to interject with disgust. She doesn’t. 

“My father, he wasn’t great. I mean, he’s my dad, and I love him, at least I think I do, some days. But he would say things to my mom, to me, and to Christie, my sister. He would tear my mom down especially, tell her she didn’t do anything, she wasn’t good enough. It started when I was around six, and I still don’t know why. He was great before that, he’d take me and Christie to hockey games, play outside with us. But something happened, and then he changed.” 

Shifting, Matt fiddles with the hem of his shirt. Janette nods in understanding. She knows enough about abuse to not be misled into thinking abusers were always awful. 

“He was  _ terrible _ to her, and at first it was just his words, from what I remember. And then I was eight and came home from school and he had her backed into a corner, he was yelling…” Matt breaks off, swallowing. Janette can hear the waver in his voice. 

“Matt, honey, we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I know it must be hard.” Another convulsive swallow and then a head shake. 

“He was holding her tightly, and I remember running over, being absolutely shocked and confused. Dad would  _ never _ hurt mom,” the last sentence is bitter, full of a deep anguish she’s never heard come from the well put together Captain. “I went to tear his hands away and he froze mid sentence, turned and told me to go upstairs. It was the first real time I was afraid of him, you know? Before this, it had just been ‘Matthew, toughen up, you’re a Casey,’ ‘Matthew you can’t do anything right’, ‘Matthew, I won’t have my son acting like a fairy and skating around the ice instead of playing hockey’...” 

Janette feels blindsided, feels like she’s been doused with cold water. The idea of any father saying that to his child is disgusting. It makes her sick. The image of a little Matt skating around during a hockey practice fills her head, and it’s exactly like she’s imagined for so long. He would have rather skated than play a rough, physical sport. “I think I prefer skating to hockey anyway,” she jokes, giving him a smile. He returns it, even if it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. 

“When he told me to go upstairs, it was like seeing a different person. His voice was devoid of everything, and all I remember was going up and feeling like a coward when I heard struggling and yells from my mom.” Matt rubs at the back of his neck, then takes a breath. “From there it just got worse. He never...fully hurt me outright, not physically. He would get close to it, would hold my wrist tight enough to hurt, but never bruise. There would be light shoves or hip checks if I didn’t do something right. But he’d never do what he did to my mom. I tried to intervene one night and he almost punched me, but my mom yelled at him and his fist froze inches from my face.” 

“Looking back now, thinking about my mom and her going through what she did...I should have done something to help her. I stood by and let it happen, and I can’t help but th-“ His voice cracks, and with a quick clear of his throat, Matt continues, obviously not wanting comfort or pity. “Anyway. When I was fourteen, they divorced. My mom had had enough, and she could tell it was getting to me and Christie, I guess. They both had joint custody, because my mom refused to come out and say he was abusive. She said she didn’t want to be one of those women who was pitied. I guess that all went down the drain though,” Matt laughs darkly, shaking his head. 

It’s coming, she knows. The  _ incident _ , the big bombshell that she’s sure still haunts the man sitting next to her everyday of his life. She can’t imagine what it must be like to deal with that sort of thing, especially considering his age. Matt bites at his lip and looks at her, looks like he’s ready to be kicked out of the house for his next words. 

“My mom went to my dad's house and killed him, shot him twice. I’ve been told a neighbor heard gunshots and called the police,” Matt’s voice is unsteady, and Janette stands then, unable to stop herself. The older woman pulls Matt up and into a hug, somewhat awkward at first as his arms are by his sides while she wraps her own around his slender frame, but then, hesitantly, he returns the gesture, and then she feels him press closer, sag a bit under what she’s sure is one of the first motherly hugs he’s had in decades. They’ve hugged before of course, side hugs and a few scattered tighter hugs, but nothing like this. This is, to simply say, a hug that is made to comfort and soothe. 

“It’s my fault.” 

“It’s  _ not _ .” 

A moment later and Matt pulls away, reluctant and trembling. “It is. It’s...I left the key out...to my dads house. If I hadn’t…” Janette should be surprised to see tears in the always put together and in control firefighter’s eyes, but she’s not. The man in front of her isn’t a man at all, but a boy, deeply traumatized after holding his feelings in for so long. 

“ _ Listen _ to me Matt, none of that is your fault. You can’t control what your father or mother did. You can’t have known what was going to happen. You didn’t  _ make _ your mother do what she did. No one should blame you, god knows I don’t. You’re a victim in this, not a conspirator or accomplice. You’re  _ innocent _ honey, I promise.” 

It’s as if a dam breaks. Matt hugs her as tight as he can and Janette’s struck with a sickening realization- no one has ever told this to him before. No one has told him that he’s innocent, that none of this is his fault, or that he never needs to worry about the people close in his life thinking that. She can’t be sure of what his sister believes; she knows guilt can make people think crazy things, but as far as the Brett’s go, they will always think highly of him. More so even now, now that Janette’s aware of what’s happened to shape her daughters boyfriend into who he is. 

“Thank you.” The words are mumbled into a now damp blouse, both of them finally loosening their grip on the other. Matt pulls back and his face is blotchy and sticky from tears, and Janette is grateful that he’s come into their lives, because she’s going to make damn sure that the boy next to her gets the family he should have had all along. As they sit back down, her curiosity gets the better of her. 

“What happened to you? Who did you stay with?” 

Matt shifts uncomfortably, almost looking more uneasy than he had before. “I was put in the foster system until I turned eighteen,” he admits, and not for the first time in the past hour, she’s shocked. Had no one on either side of his family wanted to take him in? What about his sister? Janette feels herself grow tense but forces her body to unclench. 

“My uhm, my grandparents on my mother’s side were dead by then, and my fathers side…” he blinks hard, eyes crinkling in the corners for half of a second. “I had an uncle, but he wasn’t too keen on me I guess. My social worker tried to talk to him but he refused, saying he only wanted to come and grab some things of my dads and then forget it ever happened.” 

Anger wells up inside her at the idea of anyone, especially a blood relative not wanting to take in Matt. She shakes her head and he gives her a tiny smile. 

“It’s for the best, I suppose. I’m sure I had a better experience in the two homes I was in than if I had lived with him. And I decided I wanted to be a firefighter because Kramer, my second foster host, he was a firefighter.” Matt seems to be genuine, and though Janette wonders why he’d had two homes instead of just one, she keeps that for another time. 

“Well then, I’m glad your situation worked out for the best,” Janette smiles warmly. 

They’re interrupted by the front door opening and muffled talking ringing out. Looking at each other, she squeezes his shoulder. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up,” she suggests, sure that Matt won’t want to be caught having just been crying. The firefighter gives her a conspiratorial smile and nods, managing to slip into the bathroom and shut the door just as Sylvie and David walk into the living room. 

“....is everything okay?” 

Janette looks up from where she’s been redoing the couch pillows, eyes just slightly red rimmed. “Of course honey.” 

David looks at her, giving her a curious look before it morphs into understanding. “Did you and Matt do anything fun?” 

“Just talked and bonded,” she assures lightly, giving him a smile. He seems to be placated, and she looks at Sylvie. “Matt’s just in the restroom, he should be out soon.” 

As if on queue, the man walks out, and Sylvie frowns instantly. Even cleaned up, Matt looks a little rough. His face, while much better, is still a little red, his nose too. Janette watches as he wraps an arm around her waist and presses a quick kiss to her cheek. 

“Are you alright?” 

“Yeah, I’m just...really happy I’m part of your family.” 

Janette’s sure Sylvie will be asking them both what happened, and might even be a little annoyed with her for possibly overstepping. But the older woman is certain that this talk was a good thing, for Matt and for their relationship. Now she hopes the next serious conversation she and Matt will be talking about will include rings and engagements. 


End file.
